On September 26, a major fire broke out at the National Information Resources Service (NIRS) data center in Daejeon, located about 90 miles south of Seoul, the capital of South Korea.
The fire, which is believed to have been triggered by a malfunctioning lithium-ion battery that went into thermal runaway, caused a sudden shutdown of 647 government systems. The disruption affected a wide range of services, including tax systems, school databases, property registration, and digital identification.
While some platforms were restored quickly, nearly 100 systems suffered significant damage and could take several weeks to fully repair.
The government acknowledged the lack of redundant backup systems, prompting criticism over the vulnerability of South Korea’s digital infrastructure. In response, authorities raised the national cyber alert level amid concerns that hackers could exploit security gaps caused by the outage.
e-Arrival card now back online
Among the affected services was the e-Arrival Card, a digital entry form launched in February 2025 to streamline the process of entering South Korea.
“Previously, a fire at the Korea Information Resources Service (KIRS) in Daejeon temporarily made it impossible for applicants to enter their intended address of stay in Korea. In response, the Ministry of Justice took proactive measures to minimize inconvenience. Immigration officers at entry counters manually checked and entered the address information when applicants were unable to input it themselves,” the Ministry of Justice said in a statement released yesterday.
The ministry confirmed that the e-Arrival Card system is now fully operational: “As of September 29, 2025, address data services at KIRS have been restored, and the E-Arrival Card System has returned to normal operation.”
A requirement set to become mandatory in 2026
The e-Arrival Card allows foreign visitors staying for less than 90 days to submit their travel and stay information electronically before arriving in South Korea.
The form can be submitted through the official portal, www.e-arrivalcard.go.kr, no more than three days prior to arrival, and it becomes invalid if the traveler does not enter the country within 72 hours.
Until the end of 2025, travelers still have the option to use either the digital form or the traditional paper card. However, starting in January 2026, the e-Arrival Card is expected to become the only accepted method of declaration.
There are some exceptions: travelers with an approved Korea Electronic Travel Authorization (K-ETA) and certain categories such as permanent residents are exempt from this requirement.
As seen in countries like Indonesia, Thailand, and more recently India, the goal of the digital arrival card is to streamline border control and enhance secure data collection. However, the fire at the data center serves as a reminder that this push for modernization, while inevitable, relies heavily on the reliability of a country’s digital infrastructure.
